Cleaning Out Pantry Pests

What’s Going On In My Pantry?The pantry or kitchen area is where people discover – much to their great disgust and displeasure – most of the pests that can exist in our homes. This is because pests gravitate toward the same things that we do. They are in there for the food. But like all unwanted guests, they don’t stop eating and they don’t stop destroying. Some pests will simply linger around the edges of bottles or crawl in through open spaces in the packaging. Others, however, won’t be held back by anything and can get into packages by chewing.

What Kind of Pantry Pests Are There?There are a lot of insects and even some animals that can qualify as pantry pests. Some are more destructive than others. For half of their lives, the Indian meal moth can be very destructive. The adult moth isn’t a problem, but the larvae it begins as can get into any number of packages. Silverfish are known as some of the most destructive pantry pests, willing to get into almost anything they can in order to feed.

Ants, naturally, are the most well-known of all the pantry pests. They march in, take what they want, and march back out and let the entire colony know of their discovery which leads to more and more ants in your kitchen. Various types of flies can also be pantry pests as they will feed upon anything from ripened fruit to meats left in the garbage.

Pantry Pests Mean More PestsThe arrival of pantry pests can also mean the arrival of additional pests that are not interested in the foods within your pantry, but in the pests themselves. Indian meal moth larvae can attract a host of spiders. Centipedes looking for meals may come in to feed on whatever insects they can. If you don’t see an influx of pantry pests but instead discover a lot of spiders, it may simply mean you haven’t spotted the true culprits yet.

Professional help from companies like Ransford Environmental Solutions can identify the pantry pest issue and inform you of how it can be solved. We know that you don’t want poisons and insecticides around your food or kitchen, which is why we use green products. It isn’t just a matter of seeking out where the pests are that moment, but discovering how they are entering your home, how they are exiting your home (if they are), if there is a nest, destroying any eggs that have not hatched, and so forth. Going over all the details very carefully makes all the difference. Once you know what the problem is, the best solution can be formed and your pantry made pest-free once again.